A change of direction
by Bryony Honeysuckle
Summary: Lily was supposed to be meeting up with a desperate Snape, but a sudden change in direction lead to a change in events for Lily. T to be safe. One shot for now, tempted to expand. BH
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey, I feel motivated to do another one shot, I'm willing to expand this one however depending on the interest I get overnight. So... Um enjoy? R&R if you feel inclined to, yeah.**

Lily rushed down the corridor, her hair falling loose of its messy bun. She panted slightly as she scrambled down the stairs to the fifth floor of Hogwarts. The girl clung onto the banister of the moving staircase as she nursed the stitch growing in her side. She looked down as she could see the greasy hair of Severus Snape, who was pacing at the foot of the next flight of stairs. He wanted to meet with her urgently, but after the argument they had that afternoon she was reluctant to oblige. It wasn't until she was showered with roses in the middle of transfiguration when professor McGonagall highly recommended she accepted the invitation before her lesson was disrupted further. Her face slowly grew crimson as she recalled the memory, but straightened her face as she reached the bottom of the stairs.  
She was just about to lift her shoe off the step and onto the stable floor when the staircase suddenly lurched and she was being moved to the right, away from her destination. Her shoe slipped off her foot as she froze midstep, panicking at the sudden change. The stairs stopped at a new landing, and Lily dashed up them despite missing a shoe, desperate for a proper platform. At the top, a door loomed before her. It was a deep oak and it didn't give away any of the rooms contents. She reached out a finger and touched the door gingerly. Instantly the door sprung to life and a lion appeared in the centre. It towered over her grandly and she folded her arms unfazed.  
"What position does James Potter play in quidditch?" it boomed, making her shake with the volume.  
"Uh..." started Lily, thinking furiously."Chaser?"  
"Correct!" yelled the lion. "You may venture forth into James' chamber!"  
Lily stared dumbfounded. James? Of all people? And how did he have his own chamber?  
"What are you waiting for?" the lion enquired.  
Lily balanced up her options. The stairs weren't showing any signs of moving. However she didn't know if James would be in there, or would arrive.  
"The stairs won't move until tomorrow, you might as well come in." the lion pierced her thoughts, nodding towards the inside.  
Glancing back once, she slipped inside, fuming. Tomorrow?! Thank goodness it was Friday, she thought, at least I won't miss any school due to that toe rag! James however, had shown a bit more maturity since 6th year, and he had been less annoying since Severus called her a mudblood the previous summer.  
She looked around to see James already in there, to her dismay, looking at her with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smile.  
"You do realise-" he started to mention quietly  
"Yes I know!" snapped Lily "I mean... I'm sorry; I was going to meet Snape-"  
"Snape? That butt trumpet? Why?" he checked himself. "Wait, it was him with the confetti?"  
"And the roses, yes." she sighed, tucking a long strand of her fiery red hair behind her ear.  
"You obviously don't want to." stated James matter of factly, absent mindedly running his hand through his messy hair.  
"I do..." she hesitated. Did she? Really? "I don't..." she trailed off, looking down at the carpeted floor. She glanced around the room, taking in the posh furniture all in scarlet and gold.  
He looked at her torn face, he understood how much he meant or used to mean to her. He would never give up on his beloved lily-flower, but he want sure if she would ever return his feelings. James turned her back to her and tried to focus on his charms essay, but all he could think of was how charming Lily was. He picked up his quill and attempted to write, but words from his confused brain couldn't quite translate to his hand. He just stared down, mentally cringing but figured it would be better than trying to talk to her. Her eyes looked tired and frustrated, and mirrored his at his homework.  
Lily watched him as the seconds dragged into minutes. Realising she should say something, she took a tentative step forward.  
"Do you need any help?" she asked slowly, stretching every syllable.  
"Uh..." James was taken aback, his body still facing away from her. "I'll be ok I think." he declined, his voice close to murmur. Charms weren't his strong point, and he didn't want to embarrass himself further.  
"Come on, you need help." confirmed Lily, taking another step forward. He gave in, turning around and moving over, transfiguring a soft red armchair next to his so she could sit down. She blushed and lowered herself beside him. She noticed how they were sat at a respectable distance rather than nose to nose like he would usually try to do. Maybe he had matured.  
Calmly she read through his vague description of the hovering charm and pointed out his mistakes, and tried to re explain it. She then proceeded to demonstrate the theory, hovering his quill above his head. He laughed, and she noticed how cute his laugh was, and she giggled, causing the quill to land on his head due to her distraction.  
He yelped like a frightened puppy and scrambled to tidy his hair. She laughed harder, wiping tears from her eyes. He noticed how cute her laugh was, and stopped trying to sort out his hair, distracted.  
"You've still got feathers in your hair!" she giggled, pointing at his head. He snapped into his senses, running a hand through his hair, less frantically this time. He gave up, turning back to a fresh piece of parchment. Lily reached over and picked out a single feather that stood out between his chestnut coloured hairs. Their eyes locked, brown and green, and suddenly she didn't hate him anymore.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to Han13, and Starkid191 for reviewing my first chapter! But yeah, here's another one! Yay!-BH**

* * *

Half an hour later James' essay was complete and he had mastered the use of lifting heavy objects. Just like Lily, he could now perform this charm effortlessly no matter what the object was. They then re-arranged the room just for the hell of it then sat either end of the couch. Lily concluded that she had a much better evening than what she was going to have, James seemed way out of character, but he seemed much more relaxed and normal now he was free of work.

"Where's your shoe?" James asked suddenly, noticing her mismatched feet.

"The stairs moved," Lily explained, feeling much more comfortable around him. "My shoe fell off, I don't know where it is now." Her wand was still out, so she lazily flicked it at her lone shoe and it doubled. Once she modified it so it fitted her foot perfectly, she slipped it on, satisfied with her work. Her stomach grumbled, then looked up at James. "How do you get dinner up here?"

As if on cue, a house elf appeared with many samples from dinner in the great hall. Noticing Lily was accompanying him, the elf snapped his fingers and another appeared along side him with an identical platter. James took them gratefully, placed them on the coffee table in front of him and then launched into a complicated hi-5 routine with the first house elf. He fist bumped the second one and they both saluted him, bowed to Lily and disappeared with a loud crack.

"That is your answer to that question." James smirked, winking at her before lifting the lid to his plate. "Steak and kidney pie! Awesome!"

Lily lifted up her lid to discover she had exactly the same as James. The second house elf quickly returned with a jug and two goblets filled with pumpkin juice. "Thanks Harold" he said saluting, as the elf bowed returning the gesture. He disappeared, leaving them to enjoy their meal.

Ten minutes later Lily was just finishing up her pie when she noticed James putting his knife and fork aside and hovering his peas in mid air.  
"I don't like peas." he stated, hovering one higher and higher with a mischievous smirk.

Lily laughed and joined in, and a competition began to see who could hover it the highest. It had started to rain outside and she noticed a storm was brewing. A rumble of thunder made her jump and she sent her pea flying at James, hitting him straight on the nose. James jumped too, watching the single pea bounce off his nose. He raised an eyebrow lifted his wand slowly, then gave it a sharp flick, then watched amused as the pea hit her back. "Two can play this game." James said.

"Indeed." retorted Lily, sending a pea in his direction, feeling strangely confident.

It soon escalated into a full-on pea war, duplicating the peas so they had enough ammo and moving the furniture so it looked like an indoor snowball fight. Hundreds of peas later they were both laughing and too exhausted to move. They lazily waved their wands in synchronisation and the furniture glided back into place and the peas disappeared. The two tired students returned to the sofa, smiling. Lily realised she hadn't had this much fun in a long time. James realised that Lily can let go and completely relax once in a while, and she isn't completely anti-fun. He looked over and saw her curled up in the armchair opposite. She looked beautiful in his eyes. Lily looked at him and they both blushed, feeling totally out of character.

"I'm scared of the thunder." whispered an embarrassed Lily, curling herself up into a tighter ball. She then got up and shut the curtains, blocking her view of the stormy night sky. She shuddered as the sound of the thunder echoed around the room. James got up and stood behind her. She could feel his breath tickling her neck, but didn't move. She felt safer with him nearer.

She checked herself. She, Lily Evans, admitted she was safer with James at her side? She turned around and looked up into his hazel eyes.

"The more you avoid it, the less likely you are to confront your fear and overcome it." stated James, looking serious. He reached around her and opened the curtain slightly. She shivered as the thunder got louder. James, feeling confident again, wrapped his arms around her. "See? It's not that bad."

Lily, realised where she was, in James' arms, and mentally panicked. Was she sure about this? Did she want this? She had noticed he's changed since the start of this school year, but did she really want to be this close to him?

"Lily?" James asked her.

* * *

**Should she stay or hesitate? Hmmm, suggestions would be appreciated!^.^**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know it's been a while... I'm sorry! I hope this makes up for it? Maybe? And to the reviewer who thought that James was a seeker, A)Although the movies say he's a seeker, the BOOKS say he's a chaser, and B) so does Harry Potter Wikia, I took the liberty of checking... that is all.**

It felt like minutes dragged by as Lily froze in astonishment at her predicament. She had always hated James. He was arrogant, a bully and didn't care about anything! However as she spent longer and longer trapped in this room she was starting to see another side of the James Potter she knew and hated. This was a sensitive side, a caring side. A side she liked. She turned around to they were face to face. Their noses were almost touching, the flashing of the lightning outside flickering on their faces. James was looking directly at her. The way he looked at her usually irritated her, but now she was completely confused.

James was looking into her emerald eyes, marvelling at her natural beauty. Not that he had ever seen her before, but he could never get over how beautiful she was in his eyes. He figured she would never understand how much he loved her. Time was running out, so he had almost given up on his first and only love.

Lily noticed James was leaning closer and closer towards her lips. He was giving her time to escape. Most of her wanted to, but a small part of her was longing to close the gap between them.

"I... I can't." Lily whispered. "No... I don't know..." she whispered, her voice getting quieter as James gently moved away. She looked up to see a dawning of understanding and bitterness on his face, which disappeared in a flash and had soon glazed over leaving his expression looking like a blank piece of parchment. He nodded and walked away, leaving Lily alone with her thoughts.

She sat down on the sofa blindly. She wasn't crying, just confused beyond words or emotions. She put her head in her hands as thoughts swirled around in her brain, tangling and merging into one question: Do I like James?

The more she thought about it, the more confused she got. She sat up and looked around to see if James had returned, but he hadn't. She sighed, and wondered if there were any drinks around, her throat thirsty and dry.

"Are there any drinks around here?" she called to no-one, feeling stupid. Suddenly there was a loud crack and Horace the house elf reappeared from earlier, armed with Pumpkin juice and firewhisky.

"You sounded very confused about what you want" stated Horace, raising an eyebrow and setting the drinks down.

"I didn't mind really... anything would do..." Lily trailed off, looking at her shoes.

"About more than just your drink preference, miss." interrupted Horace.

Lily shrugged. "I don't know what to do about anything right now, I'm so confused." She admitted, feeling guilty. The look on James' face burned in her mind.

"Firewhisky will clear your thoughts; you should try things with an open mind. It could lead to a new different experience." Harold nudged the bottle gently towards her. Lily was unsure as to whether he was referring to her lack of experience of drinking alcohol or her lack of experience in understanding her own problems. He disappeared in a crack.

Since she was trapped in this room for god knows how long, she unscrewed the bottle and poured it into a glass. She took a tentative sip and shuddered in pleasure when the alcohol burned down her throat. She took a longer sip, and eventually gulped down the entire glass. She yearned for more, but figured she should at least pace herself.

A couple of hours later she was feeling a little lightheaded. She had had only two glasses yet her body wasn't used to the toxic drink. His arm was around her, his toned body tanned in the sunlight. They were both smiling and giggling watching other families with their children running around on the sand. The dream faded as she tried to cling to it. She realised this was what she wanted, and she didn't want to let it go. She was being shook violently, she had to wake up...

She jumped into conciousness as a shadow loomed before her, holding her lost shoe. "Lucky you dropped this or I wouldn't have been able to get to you. Now you will love me or else."

Lily recognised that voice. That voice that was suddenly no longer grovelling for mercy or her forgiveness. That Severus Snape.

**First I pull Lily and James apart, now I chuck in Snape, I bet you guys hate me...**


End file.
